The good old days of 'handshake deals'
OPINION: Catch phrases or statements often have a way of sticking with you. Here’s one I heard many years back: “Change is the only constant in life.”
Some stories seem to stick, you just never forget them. And they add something to your life that you carry with you, into the future.
More than thirty years ago, I first heard the story of Larry Walters from California. Motivational-type speakers around the world have used his story many times over since that epic day in July 1982. You can’t just sit around - do something with your life! Get a dream, get yourself motivated and go and grab life by the throat… right?
I just happened to be in a motivational type meeting that day when I first heard this story.
Apparently even as a kid Larry had a keen interest in flying. To his disappointment, he was unable to become a pilot in the US Airforce as he had planned, due to his poor eyesight. So, he settled into life as a truckie.\
At 13 years old while visiting a military surplus store, he saw helium filled weather balloons happily hanging from the ceiling. A seed was sown that day in this 13-year-old boy.
Years later he figured his moment had arrived. He had finally had enough of just sitting around. Twenty long years had passed on by. It was now time to reach for that dream!
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Purchasing more than forty weather balloons, along with enough helium to get the job done, and a common lawn chair, Larry’s date with destiny had arrived. With the help of his girlfriend, he attached the lawn chair with a cord to his Jeep, and got the balloons inflated. With much anticipation, he named his aircraft “Inspiration 1”.
The plan was for a gentle float around; he said he wanted his ground crew/girlfriend to tether him off at a comfortable height. After a good look around, he would then carefully shoot a few of the balloons with his pellet gun, to enable his quiet descent!
Well, it all turned to custard when the rope attaching his chair to his Jeep broke. He said the rope sounded like a gunshot when it snapped.
His calculations of the lift that 42 weather balloons generated must have been a little off; Larry fairly shot out of his back yard, finally tapering off at around 16,000 feet!
But wait, there’s more! He drifted across into controlled airspace, near the approach to Long Beach Airport. Two commercial airliners, with rather startled air crew, saw him in his lawn chair on board Inspiration 1 on their approach into Long Beach.
Finally, he pulled himself together enough to use his pellet gun to shoot out some balloons. That bit worked according to plan, however, Inspiration 1 got entangled in power lines on his descent, causing a power blackout!
Police from the Long Beach police department were waiting to arrest him as he landed. Apparently one of them asked him “Why did you do this?” His reply: “A man can’t just sit around!”
Without a doubt, those six words are great motivational medicine.
And history now affectionately refers to him as ‘Lawn chair Larry’.
I hope this story puts a smile on your face, as it still does on mine all these years later!
I must admit I was not just sitting around when I first heard this story so long ago. I was already very active living my life for things that truly matter. I now call that “Living for eternity”. Enjoy your day, and God bless.
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